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According to overnight media reports, Sharks number 8 Ryan Kankowski will not play in this year’s Currie Cup, having negotiated a 6-month stint in Japan, similar to the deal that Peter Grant has with the Kobe Steelers.

A speculative report on Sport24 suggests that both Kankowski and Bulls centre Wynand Olivier will head to Japan on completion of the 2012 Super Rugby season, although in the case of the Sharks man, the deal is apparently only short-term in nature. Olivier, it would appear, is off for the long haul. No details are available regarding which Japanese clubs the players have signed for,

With Tera Mthembu starting at 8 for the Sharks against Barney’s Army on Friday night, the young loose forward now has the perfect springboard from which to launch a bid for the number 8 jersey in this year’s Currie Cup. Sources within the Sharks camp assure us that there is no truth to Sports24′s spurious claim of a rift between Kankowski and Sharks coach John Plumtree.